I have to say, this summer was wonderful, although I totally slacked on blogging all of our adventures. I will attempt to recap some of the fun things we did for memory's sake!
March and April we mostly hunkered down at home as Maureya learned to sleep through the night and I overcame that tiredness that comes from having a newborn (and a 2 year old). Postpartum was so much better with Maureya though. I think part of it was knowing what to expect. In some ways I think I actually enjoyed the newborn stage more with her than Ansel. They were both pretty mellow as far as sleeping, but she didn't take near as long to breastfeed and did have as bad of fussy times in the evenings. During the days, I napped when they did in the afternoons and did some walks with friends in the mornings. A friend introduced me to LuLaRoe and I quickly became an addict, shopping online parties and trying all the styles.
As May came around, we planned for Ansel's "Turning Two is Ball" birthday party. I'll have to do a whole post on that sometime. We had lots of wonderful friends and family over to celebrate. We went to Young's and used his free ice cream coupon. Ansel still hates the goats; just completely cries and is afraid around them. Needless to say, we didn't stay at the petting zoo long. We also managed to get to Newport Aquarium before his birthday so both kids were free. Yay!! I took the kids to Wegerzyn Gardens in Dayton and Ansel really like the sand tables and water play. This month we also started on the garden with basil, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, kale, tomatoes, beans, onions, and peppers. I started an online class for the Ed. S. program at Liberty. I started running again.
In June we took a vacation to the Indiana Dunes, renting a house close to the beach in Michigan City. Bethany and the kids came up to visit us and go to the small zoo in town one day. We went to the lighthouse, the beach, shopping, and hiking at the Dunes, of course. I didn't cook dinner once which was marvelous. In a freak occurrence, the power went out for half a day and the owner ended up refunding us half of our stay, which was wonderful. I bought more LuLaRoe and started talking about maybe being a consultant. The garden was growing well, I was able to pick peas, cucumbers, squash, and kale. I made strawberry chia and blueberry jam. Justin and I had our 7 year anniversary and I surprised him with Red's tickets to celebrate. My mom watched the kids while we went alone.
July was hot like June and Maureya was already down to nursing just four times a day, which was wonderful for me to free up some time. She had been sleeping through the night since about 8 weeks, a mellow and sweet baby. Her eyes had stayed blue, which still surprises me that I have two blue-eyed children! Ansel was learning letters and loving his Letter Factory DVD that we let him watch a few times a week. We visited different parks, and Ansel loved the splash pads and anything water-related. It was wonderful to have an extended time at home just to relax. The garden kept growing but my big canning- beans and tomatoes, still weren't coming on very strong. Of course it would be the busiest for canning in August, when I had to go back to work. I went ahead and signed up to be a LuLaRoe consultant and began the 6-8 week wait to onboard with the company.
August was short in the sense that I was only home two weeks before school started up. Canning was busy, with mom and dad giving me beans and tomatoes to supplement my poor crop this year. I did have a ton of cherry tomatoes, which Ansel at about a dozen a day if he could! He is so active and healthy; he loves his veggies and dipping them in ranch if I give him some. Maureya (5 months now) was developing great, smiling and laughing, and Ansel started interacting with her a lot more since she smiled back. Ansel still loves to "read" but jumping on the trampoline is a favorite also. He still takes his 2 hour nap in the afternoon when Maureya does, or at least the naps usually align at that point. Maureya takes a morning nap and short evening nap as well. Honestly, they are great kids and I always feel like they are such a blessing. I pray every day that they would trust Jesus with their life when they grow up and be best friends, among other things. I love them both so much and it is a joy to watch them grow. I am so, so, so thankful to have been able to have so much time at home with them, even if I did take a salary cut to do so. It was totally worth it.
